Photographer Howard Schatz had an idea: place actors in a series of roles and dramatic situations to reveal the essence of their characters. Such was the premise behind his book, In Character: Actors Acting, which captures some of Hollywood’s most emotive stars in the act of, well, making faces. Luckily for us, he continued the tradition for Vanity Fair. Here are some of the best.

A woman poses with her tattoo during the Shanghai Tattoo Extreme & Body Art Expo 2017 in Shanghai, China September 2, 2017. (Photo by Aly Song/Reuters)

Festival goers dance during Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm, near Pilton, Somerset, Britain, 23 June 2017. The outdoor festival runs from 21 to 25 June. (Photo by Nigel Roddis/EPA)

American actress Nicola Peltz poses on the red carpet as she arrives for the world premiere of the movie “Transformers 4: Age of Extinction” in Hong Kong Thursday, June 19, 2014. The latest installment in the blockbuster series of “Transformers” films is making its world premier not in the usual entertainment hubs of Los Angeles or New York but in the wealthy Chinese metropolis of Hong Kong, the latest sign of Hollywood's increasing focus on China's booming film market. (Photo by Kin Cheung/AP Photo)

Fires approach a home near Lower Lake, Calif., Friday, July 31, 2015. A series of wildfires were intensified by dry vegetation, triple-digit temperatures and gusting winds. The golden hills of California were being blackened Friday by a series of wildfires egged on by bone-dry vegetation, triple-digit temperatures and gusting winds. (Photo by Jeff Chiu/AP Photo)

During the feudal times, the society was very structured where everyone knew their place. Fishermen knew that they would always have to bend their knee for highborn ladies and gentlemen, while the latter considered themselves to be far too superior to even look at the common folk. Mont Saint-Michel is a living memorial of those times. Its structural composition clearly reflects the structure of feudal society: The monastery and abbey were built on the highest point; housing and stores were built some distance below; finally, fishermen’s and farmer’s houses were constructed, not even being within the city walls, making them the most vulnerable to the possible attack.

A worker throws a cloth during a drying process at Sukoharjo near Solo, Central Java province, Indonesia, April 23, 2019 in this photo taken by Antara Foto. (Photo by Mohammad Ayudha/Antara Foto via Reuters)

The Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) is seen in the sky in Ivalo of Lapland, Finland on September 27, 2019. (Photo by Alexander Kuznetsov/Reuters)